


Nightmare? C'mere, It's Okay

by des0lates0ul



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Archie/jughead - Freeform, Asexual Jughead Jones, Bisexual Archie Andrews, Homeless Jughead, M/M, archie wants to be a good friend, based on s1e7, even though this is not just friendly, i don't know how to tag, i just know that archie & juggie are so cute, panromantic jughead, super fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-05 21:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10317533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/des0lates0ul/pseuds/des0lates0ul
Summary: Jughead is homeless after the drive-in is torn down. No one knows that, though. Except for his best friend Archie, who's given him a place to stay while he needs it.Based on Season 1 Episode 7 of Riverdale





	

It’d been nearly a week since Jughead had moved in with his best friend, Archie. Although it’s taking some time, he’s getting used to it day by day. He’s not used to sharing a house, or even having a house for that matter. The worst part though is that when he wakes himself up out of a nightmare, he has to worry about waking Archie up as well. Sometimes he yells, sometimes he cries, sometimes he just can’t catch his breath. They’re never the same, but they all have one thing in common: they’re all about Mom and Jellybean.

Each night has brought forth a new anxiety about his family. Jughead isn’t sure what he can do about it though, because what is there to do? He’s just a kid. He’s still in high school. He can’t force his family to make up. He can’t force his mother and sister to come home. He can’t force happiness upon them when he knows they’re anything but happy.

It was another long night of working on his novel. He was up late on a daily basis, but always tried to finish up before one in the morning. This night in particular was different, and he couldn’t stop writing without getting his full idea out. Him and Betty had made a breakthrough, finding out even more information about Jason Blossom and his murder. Not to mention Polly’s loony-bin escape. Things were starting to piece together and he was not about to sit back and let his train of thought stop for the night only halfway through.

By the time Jughead finished and packed his laptop up, it was nearly two-thirty and he had to be up for school in five hours. This didn’t particularly bother him though, because he was used to a lack of sleep at night and naps throughout the next day’s classes. It’s what every high schooler does, right?

As soon as his head hit the pillow his eyes were shut and his breathing slowed. Never had he fallen asleep so instantaneously, but something about typing his heart out for six hours straight had caused his immediate knockout when he laid down. He was so tired that he forgot to remove his beanie and hang it up. He did practically live in it, but he preferred to let his scalp breathe while he slept. With how easily he fell asleep, it should have been a great rest regardless of being an hour and a half later than he’d intended. Instead, though, he was woken up an hour later with his heart pounding out of his chest and his hands shaking. 

Once he realized that he was yelling, he clamped his hand over his mouth and let the tears flow down his cheeks freely. Every single night he’d had another nightmare about something happening to his beloved sister. This was the first time that he’d dreamed that Jellybean was in place of Jason; that she’d been the one murdered and that his entire novel was about her instead. If thinking about her being dead hadn’t spiked his anxiety enough, envisioning his sister dead sure as hell did. 

He couldn’t fall back asleep no matter how hard he tried. It just wasn’t going to happen, no way in hell. He tried to write more so that he’d at least be productive, but he couldn’t do that either without feeling nauseous. He didn’t want to wake up Archie because he needed sleep too, but Jughead couldn’t just sit there alone with his thoughts.

He slowly sat up, hand roaming his bed in search of the beanie that’d fallen off during the short period he’d been asleep. Without much of a thought, he opened the door of the spare bedroom and crept down the hallway toward his best friend’s room. He hated to wake up his friend at such an ungodly hour, but he knew that Archie would understand and provide him with at least some comfort.

Jughead slowly opened Archie’s door, knowing if he knocked the redhead would sleep right through it. Making his way over to the bed, somehow managing to trip only once (on a pair of boxers, no less), he nudged Archie’s shoulder with a cold hand.

“Arch? Dude, I could use your help right about now.”

“Juggie?” Archie mumbled, still half asleep and unaware of Jughead’s pleas for help.

“I had a nightmare...like, a really bad one. Could you just, like, try to help me feel better? I don’t know, I’m not sure what’s wrong, but-”

“Nightmare? C’mere, it’s okay.” Archie scooched over on the small bed, making as much room as possible for Jughead to be comfortable.

This was not at all what he’d expected from Archie. If anything, he was more prepared for a late night pep talk, an “everything will be okay,” and maybe a bro-hug. Not an offer to sleep in the same bed and talk about his problems.

“What was it about, Jug? If you wanna talk about it. If not, that’s completely okay too. I just figured…” He trailed off, but made sure that he gave a comforting look to Jughead, who stood over the bed awkwardly, trying to decide whether or not to lay down.

“Dreamt that Jellybean and Jason switched places. It really screwed up my head, I completely thought it was real. Like, had to wake up and read all of my notes on the Blossom murder to confirm that it was really him and not my sister. May I?” Jughead shuffled awkwardly, pointing to the empty spot next to Archie even though he knew the answer already.

“Of course, Jug. Take off your hat and stay a while, though.”

Awkward as it was, Jughead sat down on the edge of the bed, laptop still in hand. He hadn’t expected to have the opportunity to rest, so he figured he’d just sit in Archie’s room and write instead of sitting in the spare room. A change of scenery, you know?

It took a few minutes for him to find a safe place for the laptop and build the nerve to remove the beanie regardless of how many times Archie had seen him without it. It was almost comparable to taking off your pants in front of a stranger, if you’re not into that kind of thing. It just made him feel uncomfortable and exposed, and even though it was only his best friend it was still just as awkward.

Archie held the sheet and duvet up as Jughead slipped his grey sweatpants clad legs under the covers, only then realizing that Archie was in nothing but his boxers and a pair of socks. The only thing that really bothered him about it was the socks. Why socks? he thought. All they do is make your feet sweaty and gross. Ugh.

As soon as Jughead fully laid down, Archie was inching his way closer to him, a hand on Jug’s bare chest. This caused him to realize that his chest had been nearly convulsing, his anxiety still flared up from the nightmare though he’d momentarily forgotten about it. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Archie’s hand was now on Jughead’s arm, rubbing it in an attempt of solace. “You’re still shaking, Jug. Seriously, c’mere.”

Jughead had no intentions of cuddling with his best friend, platonic or not. He didn’t really want much more than a conversation and a “you’ll be okay.” But for some reason, he couldn’t say no to Archie and within seconds he was curling into the stronger boy’s embrace. The feeling of their bare chests together made him slightly uncomfortable, but at this point, what hadn’t?

“Thank you for letting me come in here. I…it really means a lot to me. I just hope I don’t have another breakdown anytime soon.” He let out a chuckle and rolled over so that his bony back was against Archie’s chest.

“No problem, Juggie. I know you’re going through shit too. Everyone needs someone sometimes. My bed is always open for visits from you. In a totally, non-sexual, platonic way.” He chortled and cleared his throat awkwardly, but wrapped his arm around Jughead’s torso again.

The two of them laid in silence for a while, listening to the other’s breathing and hoping to actually get some sleep. Which was way more difficult than they’d expected. Who knew that lying so close to a friend would make you question your feelings so much? Definitely not Jughead. 

Turning over to face him, Jughead whispered softly. “Hey, Archie? I think I-”

Before he could even finish his sentence, he was met with the soft lips of none other than Archie Andrews. His best friend. His first crush. His first kiss. He’d never felt like this toward anyone, but he assumed it was simply their closeness that brought them even closer, both physically and emotionally.

The kiss was light, laced with sleepy eyes and shallow breaths. Jughead had no idea what he was doing, but he figured it wasn’t too bad if Archie kept going. The redhead definitely had more experience than the shy, grey-blue-eyed boy, but they made it work. It felt like feathers were touching his lips as he lay there and wondered how he’d gotten so lucky to have a friend like Archie. He kissed the other boy back, trying his best to make it seem like he’d done it before. Archie already knew he hadn’t. They lay arm in arm, chest to chest, lips to lips for what felt like hours. Time was slowing down. They were getting more and more tired. But neither of them were ready to give this up quite yet.

Jughead pulled Archie closer, kissing his shoulder before opening up his mouth to speak. “Arch? I think I really like you. Thank you for tonight. For everything.”

Archie hummed in response, shifting so that he was on his back and Jug was resting his head on the redhead’s chest. Before either of them knew it, Jughead was fast asleep again. He held tightly onto Archie’s waist, making sure that the other boy wouldn’t go anywhere. It took all of his power not to kiss the raven-haired boy again like he so badly wanted to in that moment.

Instead, he pressed his lips to Jughead’s forehead and smiled, one thought running through his mind: How’d I get so lucky?


End file.
